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Anyone looking to make a major change to their setup should be hunting down the best projectors for PS5 and Xbox Series X. Of course, you don't need to go all in on a 4K monster with all the latest HDR features and lights bright enough to compete with the sun. If you're just after the big-screen treatment there are a number of cheaper 1080p options out there.
However, if you're truly after the best experience possible I'd recommend looking at the $2,000 - $3,000 price mark. Those beans will get you a 4K thrower designed around your console, that means low latencies, improved refresh rates, and even additional gaming features.
The quick list
The BenQ X3100i is the latest console-focused projector to come out of this gaming-pedigree brand. You're getting all the 4K juice you need here, but things will run faster in 1080p.
The Yaber T2 Plus is one of the cheapest projectors I recommend on the daily. It's a 1080p portable model, but it can still hold its own for casual gaming on the big screen.
The Sony Bravia Projector 7 isn't quite as bright as the 8 model, but it's a hell of a lot cheaper and still packs the 4K 120Hz picture quality console fans will be searching for.
Hate headsets? Projectors usually drown out their own audio with fans but the Anker Nebula X1 has the best sound I've heard so far from a projector.
One of my first ever jobs was in the projection room of a movie theatre, and I've never quite been able to get away from the even-bigger screen since. I've been running different projectors for years, tinkering with every setting to find the perfect picture for every occasion. My current go-to is the BenQ X300G, but whether I'm loading up a PS5 game or settling in for a movie night I'm always thinking about how each experience can be improved.
December 17 - I've been spending the last month with the Sony Bravia Projector 7, a cheaper alternative to the ultra-premium Bravia 8. It's still an expensive option for home cinema enthusiasts, but its value and improved latency has pushed into the top list this month.
The best projector for PS5 and Xbox Series X overall
The BenQ X3100i takes over from the BenQ X3000i as the best projector out there for PS5 and Xbox Series X players. It's the latest flagship from a well established gaming projector brand, packing the same 4K picture at 16ms latency that we've come to know and love with some extra boosts in the brightness and contrast department.
✅ 4K is a must: While it's pixel shifted to full UHD, the BenQ X3100i produces some incredible 4K images well worth taking advantage of on PS5 and Xbox Series X.
✅ You also want a speedy option: If you don't mind killing the UHD resolution you can drop down to 1080p for an insanely fast 240Hz 4.2ms experience
✅ You also want to watch TV: Ignoring the streaming side of the BenQ X3100i would be a mistake, this is also a powerful device for 4K HDR content across a range of services, and packs Netflix on its included dongle.
❌ You want full 4K 120Hz: 60Hz is still fine, but if you want the full force of the PS5's 4K 120Hz output, you'll need to look elsewhere.
❌ You have a smaller space: The X3000i is a chunkier model compared to something like the X300G, so if you're working with a smaller space we'd recommend a short-throw projector or a portable device.
At first glance this is a very similar projector to the X3000i that came before it. Both models pack a squat boxy aesthetic with curved corners and a crisp white paintjob. Both even feature near identical controls on the left panel, save for the new lens shift option on the top of the X3100i. You'll find the same speeds under the hood, and a similar 4LED projection system inside as well. It's true, the X3100i is an iterative update, but considering you can only pick up the X3000i second-hand or refurbished these days it's the best on the market right now.
There are some new additions to keep things feeling fresh, though. Brightness has been upped to 3,300 lumens (300 more than the X3000i and noticeably better performing in ambient light than the X300G) while contrast has jumped from 500,000:1 to 600,000:1. While it can still be tripped up by muddier scenes (the beiges and browns started to look a little washy in my testing on Assassin's Creed: Mirage), block colors and vibrant picture looks incredible. Astro's Playroom leaps off the wall with an incredible clarity and super sharp attention to detail.
Dropping things down to 1080p and I was impressed with the fluidity of faster games like Apex Legends at full 240Hz whack. I never noticed any latency issues, with inputs and response times pretty much matching that of a full TV or monitor setup. That's not to be taken for granted; there are very few PS5 and Xbox Series X projectors out there that can accomplish such feats. One of my only gripes during testing was the lack of Dolby Vision support, and this is only really a PC concern - both consoles stick to HDR10 so there should be no problems there.
Throw in an easy vertical lens shift system for quick picture adjustment, easy to use focus and zoom dials on the side, and a slick piece of software called SettingXchange that allows you to easily apply specialist visual profiles created for each game, and the BenQ X3100i's position at the top of the market is sealed.
Read more: BenQ X3100i review
The best budget projector for PS5 and Xbox Series X
Yes, your console can output at 4K, but projectors that can handle this resolution are expensive. Grabbing a 1080p PS5 projector is an excellent way to save some cash and still enjoy all your adventures on a much bigger screen, and the Yaber T2 offers bags of value.
✅ A low price is a priority: If you're keeping an eye on the bank balance this cheaper model is going to be particularly interesting. You're dropping a few fancier features but still picking up big-screen entertainment.
✅ You still want some adjustment features: Tweaking those picture settings actually produces some visible improvements, particularly to darker scenes.
✅ You watch in multiple rooms: It's not as small or light as many portable projectors, but the strong battery life and easy carry handle means it's ideal for moving between rooms.
❌ You want full 4K resolution: If you think you'll miss the full UHD resolution of your PS5 or Xbox Series X, your money is better put towards a slightly more expensive device.
A super crisp picture that's massively enhanced with a selection of comprehensive visual settings options, the Yaber T2 helped my PS5 (and even a PS5 Pro) sing in testing. This isn't just a device for the game room, though. The soft aesthetic, additional material covering, and helpful handle mean it's a lifestyle projector that can easily blend into a living room setup for more casual viewing. In fact, it can go wherever you want. The built-in battery life lasts long enough for a full movie, even if the lower 450 lumen brightness means you'll need to wait for the sun to set if you're looking to play outside.
It's a little chunkier than most portable projectors, but with that handle acting as a stand it's also a lot more versatile. Setup is incredibly easy - point and shoot and the projector will configure your keystone settings and focus. I generally avoid these features when gaming, though, as they can result in higher input latency. While the Yaber T2 isn't going to be a competitive player's best friend, it's certainly fast enough for single player experiences. I had no issues with speed in Astro Bot.
If you're watching in a brighter room, you'll need to tinker with some of the settings to get the best picture possible. I loaded up The Conjuring when I first started testing, with a little daylight bleeding in through closed curtains, and missed a lot of the finer details in shadowy scenes. After a few menu clicks, these drawbacks were dramatically reduced.
The projector only has one HDMI port, which will likely be taken up with a streaming stick for casual everyday viewing. That means it's a little annoying to have to keep swapping between HDMI cables when you want to switch between consoles and TV. However, I got on fine with a few days of only using my PlayStation for content.
If you're looking to cast your PS5 or Xbox Series X onto your wall but don't want to break the bank just yet, the Yaber T2 is a fantastic starting point.
Read more: Yaber T2 Plus review
The best premium projector for PS5 and Xbox Series X
Sony produces some seriously expensive (and seriously impressive) native 4K projectors for home theatre enthusiasts, but the Bravia Projector 7 feels like the best value of the lot. This is still a premium model, sitting at around $10,000 / £7,000, but it's a far cry from the Sony Bravia Projector 8 that often comes in at nearly $19,000.
✅ This is a long-term investment: There's a heavy cost associated with this device, but if you're buying for the long-haul it's well worth it.
✅ You want to push your console to the max: It's not easy to find a 4K 120Hz projector, but the Bravia 7 will let your picture keep up with framerates.
✅ You mostly play at night: With a lower brightness than the Bravia 8, the Projector 7 can look a little washed out in daylight.
❌ You just want a gaming projector: The high price point doesn't make sense if you're not building out an enthusiast-level home movie theatre.
The Sony Bravia Projector 7 maintains that familiar shape that anyone who knows the VPL range will be accustomed to. That means this is a large, chunky device - though it's worth noting that certain advancements in efficiency mean it's actually more compact than other enthusiast models on the market.
It's Sony's XR processor that's doing a lot of the hard work here. In streaming, you're getting a whole wad of excellent HDR-enhancing and upscaling technologies to play with. It gives you access to XR Dynamic Tone Mapping, a particularly impressive real-time processing feature that makes HDR adjustments on a frame-by-frame basis. XR Deep Black enhances those shadows separately, and XR Clear Image is an upscaling powerhouse as well.
Throw in a set of HDMI 2.1 ports perfect for the PS5, and 4K gameplay at the full 120Hz whack and you've got a slick set of gaming specs for a more entertainment-focused device. Sony has also dropped the input lag of the Projector 7 compared to the more expensive Projector 8. The brand now claims a 12ms latency in 4K 120Hz. That's even better than the BenQ above, with a faster refresh rate thrown in for good measure.
Read more: Sony Bravia Projector 7 review
The best projector for PS5 and Xbox Series X audio
The Anker Nebula X1 may not be able to keep up with faster BenQ throwers when it comes to competitive gaming, but it can certainly blare your PS5 or Xbox Series X's audio. With four side-firing canons, the X1 offers the best gaming audio I've heard from a projector, but that's also helped along by the super quiet liquid cooling system as well.
✅ You hate headsets: Most other projectors require a headset to block out their loud fan noise, but that liquid cooling and powerful speaker setup makes this a far more comfortable listening experience.
✅ You're on solo adventures: You'll get the most out of your PS5 / Xbox Series X experience here if you're a single-player. Competitive endeavors can suffer a little for the higher latencies.
✅ You want to move around the house: If you've got a gaming setup, but want to stream some movies in a separate room, the helpful handle and easy set up features are perfect.
❌ You play online competitive modes: Ranked players aren't going to fare too well with the higher input latencies here.
Design: If you've clocked an Anker projector before, you'll recognize the Nebula X1. The long oblong body and gray aesthetic are reminiscent of models in the Mars and Cosmos lines, though there's a little more tech placed towards the front of this face. The actual device is far too heavy and cumbersome to be truly considered portable (and it requires a constant power connection to run), but the handle up top feels sturdy enough for room-to-room movement. Everything is solidly built, with a reassuring heft overall.
Features: That fantastic audio is powered by two 15W woofers and two 5W tweeters. They produce some incredibly rich soundscapes, with the kind of power, balance, texture, and detailing that I rarely hear from a projector of this size. Combine that with liquid cooling (and its whisper-quiet fan noise) and you'll never need to wear a headset again, if you don't want to.
Elsewhere, the X1 benefits from a triple-laser light source for a super defined image, with AI setup features spanning everything from keystoning and focus to wall color correction.
Performance: The Anker Nebula X1 is a little too slow for online competition, I felt like I was dragging slightly in Apex Legends. However, single-player adventures like Astro Bot ran beautifully. Colors pop with a surprising vividity thanks to that boosted brightness and details maintained an impressive amount of sharpness even in more muted scenes as well. While the preset picture modes can leave you with a little too many sacrifices to truly feel helpful, the overall result is seriously impressive once it's been through a few tweaks.
Verdict: If you hate having to plug yourself into a gaming headset to enjoy your PS5 or Xbox Series X without fan noise creeping in, the Anker Nebula X1 may be just what you're looking for.
Read more: Anker Nebula X1 review
How to choose the right projector for PS5 and Xbox Series X
There are a couple of things to keep in mind when hunting down the right projector for PS5 and Xbox Series X in particular.
Resolution
The first is that all-important 4K resolution. If you're opting for a cheaper 1080p model you'll still find excellent results - and often these models are far faster than their 4K counterparts. However, if you're looking to get the most out of your consoles you'll want to go full UHD.
Connection
Next you'll want to make sure your projector has the right HDMI port. A few models are still rolling with HDMI 2.0, and there's nothing wrong with that, provided other features make up for it - our top pick uses an older HDMI connection. If you want the full bandwidth of resolution that the PS5 and Xbox Series X are capable of, though, you'll want to make sure you're picking up an HDMI 2.1 port.
Distance
Throw distance is the next factor to consider. You'll need to measure your space to find out which kind of projector you can accommodate. In general, you'll need a gap of around 13 - 15 feet between your projector and the wall you're casting on for a full 120-inch image. However, short-throw devices can considerably shorten that distance, while long-throw devices have a lot more flexibility. Of course, you'll also want to make sure you can actually fit the projector into your space. That means measuring the footprint if you're positioning it on a shelf or making sure you've got the right mounting options for a ceiling setup.
Audio
You'll also need to decide whether you're going to bother with inbuilt speakers. For example, if you know you're going to be using a gaming headset exclusively with your projector, there's no need to invest in a device with built-in audio. However, if you're simply making sure your home cinema setup can accommodate your consoles you'll want to check for external audio connections or make sure there's a decent speaker under the hood.
Lighting
Finally, consider the lighting of the room you will be playing in. Projectors range in brightness from a minimum of 2,000 lumens all the way up to more expensive models at 5,000 or even 6,000 lumens. 2,000 - 3,000 is the sweet spot for darker rooms, but if you're going to be playing during the day in a well-lit spot you might need to spring for something brighter.
Glossary
Whether you're buying your first projector or upgrading for PS5 and Xbox Series X, there are a lot of terms to wade through to make sure you know exactly what you're getting. Projectors haven't quite hit the mainstream enough for these phrases to have entered everyday usage, so it can be helpful to brush up on some of the more common phrases.
- Blooming - When too much light is being passed through a series of pixels a blooming visual effect appears. This makes an image appear fuzzier.
- Color gamut - The number and range of colors a projector is capable of replicating is measured via the color gamut.
- Ghosting - When your projector and console aren't tuned in sync, ghosting may occur. This is a visual artifact that shows as faint replica images appearing on the screen.
- HDMI 2.1 - This is the version of HDMI that both PS5 and Xbox Series X use. For the best picture, make sure your projector also has an HDMI 2.1 port and you're using a compatible cable.
- Input lag - Input lag is used to record the delay between the console sending an image to your projector and the projector showing it on the screen. A high input lag means you're always going to be reacting later than you intend to due to the extra time it takes for you to see each new image.
- Keystone - When you first set up a projector, its image might not be a perfect square due to incorrect placement. Keystoning is the process of correcting this.
- Latency - Similar to input lag, latency is the speed at which images are projected after being received from your PS5 or Xbox Series X.
- Lens Shift - Lens shift grants you more freedom in where you place your projector, by allowing you to move the image independently of the physical device.
- Lumen - A projector's brightness is measured in lumen.
- Native Resolution - Every projector has a native resolution, which may differ from its highest possible resolution. In the case of PS5 / Xbox Series X projectors you're likely to find '4K' devices using a 1080p native resolution and then upscaling it. A Native 4K projector is far more expensive.
- Pixel shifting - A process employed by cheaper 4K projectors to achieve a UHD picture by manipulating a 1080p image.
- Throw ratio- This is the optimal distance between the projector and the screen, represented as a ratio.
- Vertical lens shift - A feature available on some projectors that allows for repositioning of the picture vertically up the wall, without moving the device itself.
Best projector for PS5 / Xbox Series X FAQ
How do you connect a PS5 or Xbox Series X to a projector?
Connecting a console to a projector is, generally, the same as connecting to a TV or monitor. You'll simply be running an HDMI cable from your console to the receiver port on the projector itself. Your device will then be able to switch its input to the console and you'll be good to go.
The only element of setup that might run a little differently is audio. If you're connecting to an external sound system you'll be able to either use a 3.5mm cable to wire up your projector to your speakers - or connect via Bluetooth. It's worth noting that there might be some lag in your audio if you're connecting wirelessly, especially when run through a projector first. If you're in doubt you can always use a gaming headset direct from your console.
Can you connect a PS5 or Xbox Series X to a projector wirelessly?
There are dongles and gadgets that allow you to cast your PS5 or Xbox Series X to an HDMI receiver, and therefore to your projector, wirelessly - so it's certainly possible to connect without a cable. If you're picking up a cheaper dongle, though, it's worth noting that you're likely going to be paying for that convenience with speed. These receivers aren't going to offer the kind of lag-free response you can expect from a good old fashioned HDMI wire. However, if you're rigging up an overhead projector there are options out there for you.
Do PS5 and Xbox Series X run well on a projector?
Both the PS5 and Xbox Series run well on projectors - they're UHD devices with the speeds to keep up with a large scale picture throw.
These projectors are the best in the business but if you prefer your gaming screens as TVs then check out our guides to the best TV for PS5 and Xbox Series X, best OLED TV, and best 120Hz 4K TV.
